200 BRANNER 



At this Bittencourt cut they are somewhat higher than the 

 basal beds near Cachoeira, but this due to the Bittencourt beds 

 being higher than in the series. 



From Parahyba (or Capella) station (kil. 38+), looking north 

 and northeast, one sees the mountains in the distance, while be- 

 low and to the east of them the lower hills appear to be planed 

 off so as to make an even sky-line. It looks as if this were an 

 old base level of erosion, possibly formed at the time of the dep- 

 osition of the sedimentary beds along this coast. The granites 

 are well exposed in the Parahyba River at Capella, and at the 

 railway station. The river in many places flows over a rocky 

 bed of granite. Four or five kilometers below Gamelleira the 

 granite in the river bed has a more or less sheeted appearance. 

 At Gamelleira station, to the east of the line, is an exfoliated 

 granite peak about 150 to 200 meters above the railway, or about 

 350 meters above tide level. The angle of the slope of this 

 peak is from 50° to 85°. 



Between Gamelleira and Vicosa the railway passes through a 

 gap in the main range of the Serra dos Dois Irmaos. Plate 

 XII shows a view of this gap in the granite hills. Here the 

 Rio Parahyba has a beautiful fall and a series of cataracts, wdth 

 some fine examples of pot-holes in the granite bed of the stream. 

 The channel is strewn in places with exfoliated granite slabs. 

 Vigosa (or Assemblea), the terminal station of this branch line, 

 is upon granites, ninety-seven kilometers from Maceio, and has 

 an elevation of 214 meters. The surrounding hills are of 

 granite and have an elevation of a hundred meters or more above 

 the valley. These hills are mostly forest-covered, but one of 

 them exposes a bare rock surface. 



From Albuquerque the main line of the Alagoas Railway con- 

 tinues northward up the Rio Mundahi'i to Imperatriz (now called 

 Uniao). This portion of the line is all upon the old crystalline 

 rocks, and a brief reconnaissance of the region offers but little 

 of variety or especial interest. At Bom Jardim (kil. 44.7) the 

 valley of the Mundahii opens broadly, and the granite hills are 

 only from fifty to sixty meters high. Near the station the rocks 

 are decayed to a depth of about two meters. At Muricy station 

 (kil. 64.3) the valley of the Mundahu is somewhat broader; the 



